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Don and Wendy Francisco
The leaders of an oppressive and entrenched Jewish religious system delivered Jesus into the hands of the Roman government who carried out His murder. Both Jews and non-Jews killed Jesus. Both Jews and non-Jews also wept bitterly when he was killed, believing He was the Messiah.
Anti-Semitism in "Christians" is one of the saddest and most insane things on the planet. Jesus was a Jew. Mary and Joseph were Jews. Jesus's disciples were Jewish. Jesus's family and most of His friends were Jews.
One nation had to be chosen for Messiah to come through. Which nation on earth would not have had individuals who would have killed Him? Human history is filled with sagas of great leaders being killed in every nation by their own people. The Son of God would have been killed no matter which nationality He was born into.
We all crucified Him. Until you grasp that, you cannot grow in Jesus. God sees through the skin to the heart. Paul describes non-Jewish believers as "grafted in". He says that if we continue in unbelief (believing the Good News includes dying to the fleshly desire to become racist in any way, shape, or form), then we who were grafted in can easily be chopped back off. Jews can easily be grafted back in because they are the natural branches.
This passage is a cry to believers to reject all forms of prejudice and racism that knock at the doors of our hearts.
We no longer see Jesus according to the flesh. But we now do not see ANYBODY according to the flesh, because in the Spirit there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, slave nor free, etc... The Message is huge - racism is small.
God did an astounding thing through the whole nation of Israel, and through some remarkable individuals in that nation who said yes to God.
This amazing event was only possible after thousands of years of God relating to the Jews and weaving the seeds of preparation into their hearts and minds. Even after all this, God could only get Jesus into a manger. Yet it was enough. The agreement of one young faith-filled Jewish girl was all God needed. In the midst of terrible political tyranny, and attempts to thwart the miracle from the beginning, and into the feeding trough of a stable in a tiny Jewish town was delivered a small package who would explosively bless this whole planet.
For centuries there has been persecution of Jews by "Christians". Yet we Christians ought to have centuries of recorded history of honoring the Jews for being chosen by God, and of thankfulness that they were willing to have Messiah come in the flesh through them.